When I was little I LOVED Wonder Woman. I wore my Wonder Woman underoos as much as I could get away with, tied a blanket around my neck (Hello…choking hazard?) and would run through the house with my cape billowing behind me. Regardless of my scrawny arms and my scrawny legs, I felt like the strongest, bravest and most powerful little girl in the world. Just like Wonder Woman, I was ready show the boys on the block that girls could do what boys could do…only better.

Fast forward 20 (ahem…30) years. I am walking hand-in-hand with my 5-year-old daughter through Target. My daughter is a self-described and extremely proud tomboy so we don’t spend much time in the “girls” aisles in toy stores. So, on this particular afternoon, as I am perusing the choices of Bratz dolls to choose from – should you get your little girl the Bratz doll with the thigh-high socks and mini-skirt, or the one with Daisy Dukes and knee-high boots? Such choices… – I came to the realization that our little girls have very, very few heroines to look up to. You might argue that Wonder Woman didn’t exactly overdress but she was my childhood heroine fighting for justice, love, peace, and sexual equality. She had some awesome combat skills, she was strong, she was tough and there was always her fabulous Lasso of Truth. She was a super-great superhero.

And, while I loved kicking imaginary butt in my underoos, I also loved playing with my Barbies, taking care of my Cabbage Patch doll and watching Cinderella…and all the other things little girls love to do. But, looking back, there was a balance. I played with Legos that were blue and black – I didn’t need pink flower Legos to build an awesome house. I watched She-Ra (Google-it, youngsters) and her girl-power buddies lift up bad guys and throw them. I sent my silver Slinky down the stairs and worked my Rubik’s Cube (learning to rearrange the stickers when I got frustrated). Sadly, I am afraid our little girls have less balance today and not enough powerful, strong and brave heroines to look up to.I know…I know. I am preaching to the choir. I am only one of hundreds of thousands of concerned moms, aunts, grandmas. What would Wonder Woman do? Personally, I like to remind my daughter that she is super strong, crazy smart and can do anything she sets her mind to. That’s all we can do – regardless of what these girls see on TV or in the toy stores. Then, we can tell our nieces, our neighbor’s little girls and their friends, the entire soccer team your little cousin plays on – we can tell all these little girls that being smart, strong, brave and noble is way, way cooler than whatever those sassy Bratz dolls do. Encourage these girls to grab their capes and channel their inner Wonder Women (you will probably have to explain that one)…they can take on anything that comes their way.